Author’s Note: This is an expository essay on child abuse, I wanted to spread the awareness of child abuse. I want to show people that child abuse is a terrible and disgusting thing.
Every 1 in 5 children is either emotionally, physically, or sexually abused in our country. This is an estimation of about 3 million kids. There have been many cases of child abuse filed all throughout the United States. Many of those cases have resulted in the victim going to rehab or therapy because of all the stress put on them. Child abuse is truly a horrid and cowardly thing and all offenders should receive an ample extent of consequences for causing physical, emotional, and sexual distress on children and teens.
First off, if you suspect of any child being physically abused some things to notice,according to dreamcatcherforabusedchildren.com are unexplained bruises, welts, and cigarette burns around head, throat, upper arms, buttocks, thighs, lower back, palms, soles of feet, and abdominal area. While some behavioral signs you should be aware of are excessive fear of guardian and antisocial behavior such as running away or having fear of returning home. Imagine trying to live with these conditions! Unfortunately, many children have to go through the pain and suffering of child abuse. I can’t picture what kind of satisfaction the abuser would possibly get out of it. You’re hurting an innocent human being. With that said how severe would you make the punishment of the felon that committed child abuse? For all the stress and pain the child has to go through, I feel that the offender should receive the death penalty.
Along with physical abuse, the child has to go through pain and the memory, while with emotional abuse the child has to live with just the memory for the rest of their life, so it’s still severe but not as severe as physical abuse. Some physical signs of emotional abuse to take attention to are obesity or anorexia and speech disorders, while some behaviors to observe are cruel and age-inappropriate behaviors such as pleasure from hurting other children and adults, getting pleasure from being mistreated, and bed-wetting and wetting and soiling themselves. Now, when I say emotional abuse I bet you’re thinking it would be coming from an adult, but an example of emotional abuse that happens everywhere is bullying. Some children and teens that get bullied end up committing suicide because they feel like they have nowhere else to go with their life, but back to the more intense form of emotional abuse. To think that people are amused by causing children emotional distress is unthinkable. Sadly, it’s true, though. The question is, how severe would you make the punishment of the felon that committed emotional abuse? With all the insecurity the child could possibly result with, my verdict towards the offender would be life in prison with no chance of parole.
Although the past two forms of abuse were pretty intense, I feel that sexual abuse is the worst form of abuse ever because the offender doesn’t only cause pain and leave a scarring memory, but they also could get their victim pregnant or give them a sexually transmitted disease which, sadly, could potentially cause death. A few physical injuries to watch for are STDs, pregnancy, and bleeding and/or bruising. To follow that, some behavioral happenings to take caution of are if the child or teen is having difficulty walking or sitting; regressive behaviors such as thumb-sucking, bed wetting and fear of darkness, and disturbed sleep patterns such as, recurring nightmares. This is the kind of crime that we need to protect our children from, because what could happen, is devastating. My perspective on the consequences that the offender should result with is, once again, the death penalty, because of the life threatening conclusion that could possibly arise.
All offenders should receive an ample extent of consequences for causing physical, emotional, and sexual distress on children and teens because of how truly terrible child abuse is. To lower the amount of child abuse that goes on throughout our society, report any suspicious behavior to local authorities. If you would like to find out more about child abuser, then check local charities to help support the fight against child abuse. Now, the only question left to ask is, how severe of consequences would you make for an offender of child abuse.
